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John Pepper
Vice President Corporate Development at Allegiant
John Pepper is an entrepreneur and early-stage investor based in Hanover, New Hampshire.1 He is the co-founder of Worthee, a technology company focused on aiding the restaurant business and its workers.1
Career Highlights
Boloco: John Pepper co-founded Boloco, a certified B-Corporation, in 1997 while he was a second-year student at Tuck School of Business.1 He currently serves as the Chief Worker Advocate and CEO of Boloco, which has scaled back from its peak of 22 locations to 6 locations as of 2024.1
Investing: Pepper has been actively investing since 2003 when he backed B.Good (sold in 2017).1 He now invests through 211vc and has stakes in over 30 consumer, restaurant, and restaurant/hospitality tech startups.1
Board Positions: He currently serves on the boards of Botanica Seattle and Hone, as well as non-profit boards including the Boston Private Industry Council (Masshire) and Positive Tracks.1
Other Interests and Achievements
- Pepper was elected to the Selectboard of Norwich, VT in 2017 and served as Chair from 2018-2020.1
- He is a licensed Private Aircraft Pilot.1
- Since 2021, he has been a judge for the President's Innovation Challenge, selecting top entrepreneurial and innovative ventures.1
John Pepper's diverse experience in entrepreneurship, investing, and technology, particularly in the restaurant industry, has led him to co-found Worthee, which aims to develop technology that benefits restaurant businesses and their workers.1
Highlights
People often ask me how my Dad, also John Pepper, accomplished all he did in his 40 years at Procter & Gamble, another 7 years as Chairman of the Board at The Walt Disney Company, and too many philanthropic leadership roles to list (but special shout out to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center).
There are so many reasons he was successful, a major one being luck and good fortune, Dad will be the first to say. But three specific reasons in my mind are as follows:
Number one was my Mom enabled him, encouraged him, and supported him every step of the way. He didn’t have to lift a finger at home – she did it all, kids, taxes, logistics for all of our international moves, etc. Literally, Mom crushed it.
Second, he worked really, really hard – but also efficiently. And I'm talking freak of nature type diligence and discipline (it seems of all my siblings, my brother David has been most blessed with this character attribute or defect depending on how you look at it). Simple math on that one.
Third, he was extremely well read. As far back as I can remember he had one or two books going at any given time. He devoured thick, serious books like they were Archie comic books. Truly an overwhelming number of books, to be honest. And even well into his 80's, he remembers so many of them, their authors, and why certain books meant so much to his personal, spiritual, and professional growth.
This article is about my time with Dad on his 86th birthday as well as my sister Susan who joined us on Day 3 and our jog down memory lane as we worked through literally every one of the 700+ books in his library. As I say, "one of those gifts in life you really can’t ever anticipate."
Finally, he sent me a draft of what he entitled "Why I Love To Read"... I got so much out of the whole experience and what he wrote that I decided to share it here.
